Worker Rights

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that First Impression Staffing, LLC, a front desk staffing company, will pay $400,000 to harmed workers and the District to address allegations that the company deprived hundreds of DC workers of paid sick and safe leave. Under the terms of a settlement agreement resolving an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), First Impression Staffing will compensate former workers who never received the sick leave they should have accrued, provide retroactive sick leave to current employees, and pay penalties to the District.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Park Place Inc., which owns and operates the restaurant, nightclub, and event venue The Park at 14th, will pay $243,350 to harmed workers and the District to resolve an investigation that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has conducted into alleged violations of DC’s wage and hour laws. OAG found that the company failed to provide hundreds of workers with paid sick leave, misclassified some workers as independent contractors to avoid providing them the wages and benefits they were entitled to as employees, and illegally retaliated against certain workers who raised concerns about tips or wages by removing them from the schedule or cutting their pay rate.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today filed a lawsuit against Sequoia Row Consulting, LLC (Sequoia Row), and its owner and CEO, Paul Lawrence, for exploiting DC’s Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) program and fraudulently securing over $13 million in DC government contracts reserved for DC local businesses.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Jan-Pro Franchising International, Inc. (JPI) and Nabicorp Enterprises Inc. (Jan-Pro of Washington) will pay a total of $279,000 to janitorial workers and the District to resolve a workers’ rights lawsuit filed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG).

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that two drywall installation companies operating in the District – DR Construction and Consulting, Inc. (DRCC) and Pedro & Pablo’s Construction Company, Inc. (Pedro & Pablo) – will together pay more than $302,000 to workers and the District to resolve allegations of worker misclassification, which deprived more than one hundred workers of wages and benefits they were entitled to under DC law.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) secured a $1.75 million judgment against Talea Ristorante and its owner, Hamza Hadani, for systematically stealing employees’ wages and violating numerous laws that protect District workers.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today released the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) 2025 Impact Report, highlighting OAG’s efforts to protect the District and its residents over the last year, including securing $906.8 million in savings and benefits for DC – a 477% return on investment.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Brothers Mechanical Inc., a construction company that has worked on large development projects in NoMa, Navy Yard, and other DC neighborhoods, will pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations that the company and its subcontractors misclassified hundreds of workers as independent contractors, depriving them of wages and benefits they were legally entitled to.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Christian Siding, a construction company that has worked on projects across DC, must pay $725,000 to resolve allegations that the company failed to pay “prevailing wages" to workers on three publicly-funded affordable housing projects and misclassified workers as independent contractors on 13 additional projects.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) successfully resolved two separate investigations into suspected workplace rights violations involving the use of unlawful training repayment agreement provisions—known as TRAPs—that harmed nurses at George Washington University Hospital (GWU Hospital) and preschool teachers at The Hill Preschool.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Unique On The Go Corporation, a car detailing and rental car management company, will pay $166,011 to resolve allegations that the company paid 84 workers less than the minimum wage and deprived them of overtime wages when they worked more than 40 hours in a week by falsely classifying them as independent contractors instead of employees.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today released the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) 2025 Labor Day Report, detailing the office’s efforts to stand up for workers, enforce the District’s labor laws, and ensure all businesses in the District compete on a level playing field.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today issued the below Business Advisory to help inform the District’s restaurant community about DC employment laws protecting restaurant workers.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Zinoff & Company, LLC (doing business as “DeliverThat”), will pay $100,000 to impacted workers and the District for engaging in an illegal misclassification scheme through which it denied its delivery workers the wages and benefits they are legally entitled to by misclassifying them as independent contractors rather than employees, in violation of DC’s Minimum Wage Revision Act, Wage Payment and Collection Law, and Sick and Safe Leave Act.

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today issued an advisory to businesses with District employees regarding DC’s Wage Transparency Act, which went into effect one year ago.